Today we have a tutor promotion tip that is a bit outside of the box. Sometimes it is good to do something different. Remember if something works, keep on doing it, if it doesn’t then try something else.

Next issues will be September 10^th and 24th but we’ll be posting on our blog most Thursdays.

Summer has flown by and soon it will be my favorite time of the year. I love fall for a variety of different reasons, the big one is football. Fall is also prime time for finding more students. I’ve talked before about how that the time especially around when students get a first test grade is crucial. Here is a list of some other times when you want to focus hard on getting students.

• Beginning of the school year.
• After the first test grade / paper grade.
• Mid terms
• Near the end of the semester.
• Between semesters.

The more focused your message is, the better. Example: If you’re teaching Math, a good ad might look like this.

Failed your first Math test. Ace the next one with our expert Math instructors.

If you’re using a Facebook targeted ad, send them to a page that gives details of how you can help them ace the test, include a discount that is unique for that ad and send it.

I had an idea about a promotion in the shower the other day, some of my best ideas come from there. This idea takes a bit of time and effort. I’ve tested most of the other ideas on our site, this one I haven’t.

Step 1 – visit the mall. You’ll want to pay particular attention to the vendors that are in the huge hallways that are between the stores. You know the ones that sell all kinds of different things, but they have a counter and they normally sit in a stool. Most of the malls I’ve been in, have them.

Find some of those vendors that cater to people (or the parents of) you would tutor. Since school is most likely in session, or will be in session soon where you live, you’ll want to go after school.

Example: We’ll say again I tutor high school math, all grade levels. I see that a whole lot of people I could tutor are gathering around a booth that sells cell phone accessories. Another vendor that they seem to flock to is one that sales remote control helicopters.

Step 2 – the approach. When the vendors aren’t busy, approach them. You’ll only have a few minutes to either win them over, or they’ll tell you they aren’t busy.

You: Are you the owner?
Them: No

You: Does he usually work mornings or afternoons.
Usually they will say when they work. I’ve found that owners (I always talk to business owners from a variety of businesses. You can learn all kinds of things) most of the time work in the mornings.

If they work in the mornings, go back in the morning. If you’re talking to the owner, continue.

My name is …. I have a tutor business… name of the business and I would like to pay you a hundred bucks to help me advertise my business.

The goal is to get a couple of new students.

Them: How.
You: I would like you to hand out brochures and biz cards to potential customers. They can fill out a form, drop it in a fish bowl and they could win tutoring for a month. My guess is that at least half of the people that you ask will agree.

You’ll need –

100 brochures – focus on the time of the year (like just after the first test). Make sure it has your phone number and other contact info (FB pages, websites, etc.). In the brochure put the basic rules and where they can find the official rules at on your website. Also in the brochure tell them how they’ll be notified if they win and even if they don’t win you’ll be contacting them with an offer.
100 business cards –
150 sheets for your contest – on the sheet have.

Name__________
Phone ______________
Email _______________

Age of student___________Students name

School _____________

 

Something to put the contest entries in.

A place card that explains the contest – you can use a piece of card stock – you can fold it in half.

IMPORTANT: Make sure your contest has rules – make sure they follow all the ‘official’ guidelines. I’m not a lawyer, but here are some tips – https://www.rocketlawyer.com/document/contest-rules.rl

Tell the vendor what kind of students you’re looking for, explain the conditions for you giving them the money, if you want you can draw up a simple agreement. Explain again the classes that you teach, the grade levels etc., make sure that some of his customers would be good candidates for tutor students.

When the agreement is made, deliver the supplies to him or her. Give the vendor your contact information and I like to give them half of the money, get a receipt, tell them they’ll get the rest of the money when you come back.

After the contest, choose a winner. Then create a telephone script and contact the other entrants.

A deal – in our online tutor guide we talk quite a bit about using screen capture software to create content that people can view over and over again. Most screen capture software is expensive. Video Motion Pro has a ton of features and is less than a hundred bucks. Click here for details.

I hope you have a very busy tutor season. As always any questions, comments, suggestions please don’t hesitate to send us a note.

Follow us / more information.

You can find much more information on our blog. Just use the search box and type something in, you may be surprised at what you find.

http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/

or find us on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clever-Apple-Tutoring-Business-Help/186004714761452?ref=hl

Summer is speeding by; pretty soon schools will be opening again. I thought about talking today about building a website, but I think I’ll do that as part of the weekly postings on our blog. Some of you have been asking some questions, so I thought I would answer those.

At the end of this issue is a list of articles / newsletters that you might have missed.

Next issues will be July 23^rd and August 13^th but we’ll be posting on our blogs most Thursdays.

100 Ways to Find tutor students continues –

33. Finding your ideal tutor student – If you could choose anyone to be your student who would it be? I know that sounds odd, but do it, think if you could have anyone be your student. What would be their characteristics. Here’s an example – using the example we’ve used in the past. We’re a Math tutor, we tutor all math subjects in high school.

My ideal candidate would just be entering high school – that way we could serve them longer.
They would obviously need some help in math, or they could just excel at Math and want some help making a perfect Math score on the ACT.

Side Note – I know as tutors many times we focus on tutoring students that need help in a subject. Why not tutor gifted and talented students. Don’t call it tutoring, call it mentoring or something like that. There isn’t as much of a need, but they are out there.

The student’s family would be middle class.
We would be tutoring them at my house so they would need to live close.
They would listen to everything that I said and would do all the assignments I gave them without complaining.

So why did we do that exercise. If you know who your perfect student would be, you’ll be able to find them much easier. Since I know I want them just entering high school, I need to prepare for that. I should have held some free classes at the end of the eighth grade, telling them what they’ll be learning in highschool and give them a list of things that will help make the transition easier (attending my Math Summer Boot Camp would be one of them).

We always love to help, so if you have some notes about your ‘best’ student, but don’t know how that would help you find them, let us know and we’ll be more than happy to help.

34. How much is a tutor student worth –

Knowing how much a student is worth can help you figure out how much you can spend on advertising. If you’ve been in business for awhile, it is pretty easy. Don’t worry though, if you’re just starting out then we can do some estimations.

How long on average do your students stay with you (a year, two, three, more)?
How many tutor sessions do most of your students attend each year?
How much did they pay per session?

My students stay on average 2.5 years.
40 sessions / year
$20 / session

2.5 x 40 x $20 = $2000.00

If you’re just starting.

Look at your calendar. I like to estimate 2 times a week for tutoring a student. If they need extra help, then it could be three or even four times a week. So we’ll just say 2 times a week. 8 months of tutoring, four weeks in each month.

We want to guess the low end for how many years, so we’ll just say one. We’ll also guess $25 / tutor session.

8 x 4 = 32 (number of weeks tutored) x 2 = 64 x $25 = $1600.00

$2000 and $1600 – so what can we use those numbers for. We can spend 10 or 20 percent of that value to get a tutor student. We talked about facebook ads a week or so ago, we could spend $150 – $200 to get one student and we would still make a profit. Please reread the last sentence again. When we do consulting for tutor businesses, sometimes they complain about spending money on advertising, until we work out the numbers.

By the way, if you followed our advertising guide for facebook and you spent the limit and didn’t get a student, please contact us and we’ll be happy to check out your ad and how you’ve set it up (no charge).

 

Back to school ideas –

35. A class – Create an hour long lecture / class for back to school. We’ve talked about creating one before, but this one will be focused on returning to school. Create a brochure for the class. Make sure you list the benefits for attending the class. Here is an example –

Math Back to School Bash

The 2^nd annual Math Back to School Bash will be held on Weds. Night August 5^th from 6-8pm at the library.

If you’re going to be attending high school this year, we’ll be focusing on some things you’ll want to review. There will be free notebooks filled with math tips and all 9^th and 10^th grade student who attend will be entered to win 3 free months of tutoring. Refreshements will be served and parents you’ll be encouraged to come too.

Reservations are suggested, we have room for 20 students and the space fills up fast.

Call or email us for details and to reserve your spot.

While you’re giving the class, get someone to video tape you while you’re doing it.

36. Create a notebook – the one we’re going to give away. Buy a note book, create five or ten printouts. One of them should provide details for your tutoring service and how you can help them get an A in the subject.

Add a brochure and give a stack of them to

37. Camps – those that cater to your students. A good idea is to sponsor an educational camp, but you can do that next year.
38. Festivals – there are many during the summer time. Find someone with a booth, give them a stack of your notebooks to hand out.
39. Shopping – think about where students will be shopping for back to school. Take some notebooks there.

Using our how much is a student worth, we could buy a hundred notebooks, if one student joins us, we would have made a profit.

 

The Tutor promotion series –

100 ways to find more tutor students (Part 1)

100 Ways to Find Students (Part 2)

More ways to find tutor students part 3

http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/100-ways-to-promote-your-tutor-business-21-23-building-a-facebook-page/

http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/finding-tutor-students-part-5-using-facebook/

http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/facebook-advertising-finding-local-tutor-clients-easily/

 

 

We hope you’re having a wonderful summer!

Follow us / more information.

You can find much more information on our blog. Just use the search box and type something in, you may be surprised at what you find.

http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/

or find us on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clever-Apple-Tutoring-Business-Help/186004714761452?ref=hl